Netflix

I’ve been trying Netflix out this month. I thought it would be fun to be able to use it on my PS3 and be able to watch whatever movie I want. Here are my thoughts.

The nice thing about Netflix are that there are a lot of movies and tv shows to choose from that can be watched instantly on pc, game console, tv, and even mobile devices. This is a really cool idea. It even has a nifty recommendation feature that chooses movies you might like based on other movies you like. It actually works very well and I found a lot of interesting new movies with it. On the downside, however, the movies that are available in HD are limited. I’d expect this of older movie selections maybe, but there are a lot of new releases that are also not in HD. Watching these movies on modern monitors and TVs, standard definition really shows its age. It would be a lot better if HD was always an option.

While many movies and tv shows can be streamed instantly, it is still lacking. However, Netflix does offer a lot of rare movies that can’t be found elsewhere on DVD. I think that physical medias such as DVDs and CDs will eventually be obsolete, but it’s nice to have the option, I suppose. Although, if it came to the option of ordering the DVD on netflix or just going to a rental shop to rent it, I’d choose the shop. The only case in which I’d go with a Netflix DVD is if the rental shops didn’t offer the DVD I was looking for. I’d like to see more Blurays offered.

My main gripe with Netflix is how it handles foreign films. A lot of the movies I want to watch are not in English. There are few things I hate more than dubbed films. Netflix doesn’t let you choose what language you want to watch a movie in (usually) and sometimes you get terrible English dubs. I tried to watch a Japanese film when I first got Netflix. To my joy, it was even available in HD. Unfortunately, the only language option was a horrendous English dub. It was so unwatchable I just stopped it and chose a different movie. It’s fine to have dubs available, I know that they are popular. But always offer the original language.

In summary, Netflix is innovative and a nice idea. It could be better, however. It really depends on what kind of movies you like to watch. If you just want to check out the new releases or browse recommended films, it might be just what you’re looking for. If you are like me, you’ll probably feel that Netflix isn’t quite what it can be yet. It will get better, and it just might be the next best way to watch movies. For now, I’d say go ahead and try the free trial yourself and see what you think.